Electronic registration (ER) of product transactions recently has become available for the purpose of reducing unauthorized returns of purchased products and/or unauthorized warranty repair on purchased products. Electronic product registrations systems provided for this purpose are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,978,774; 6,018,719; and 6,085,172, the disclosures of which are all incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. The electronic registration system relies on the use of a unique identifier, such as a serial number linked to a UPC (and/or RFID) or its equivalent, for each product that is purchased. The serial number is obtained at the point of sale for inclusion in a registration database, together with other information, such as a date of transaction. This database can then be accessed in connection with an attempted product return/warranty transaction for the purpose of determining if the product qualifies for return/warranty under applicable return/warranty criteria under which the product was originally sold. Such electronic systems may also be used in connection with repair and/or exchange transactions, in addition to returns, by enabling an accurate determination as to whether the product qualifies for any of these actions under the appropriate policies and criteria under which the product was originally sold.
The ER system uses pre-established return/repair policies and procedures that are programmed into the ER system so that the system can perform a check when a product is presented for return to determine if the product qualifies for return, replacement and/or warranty repair based on sales transaction information available in the ER system for the particular product at issue. Thus, known ER systems include a database of return qualification information (or warranty/replacement criteria) for various manufacturers and/or retailers which enables the system to make an accurate determination with respect to whether or not a product actually qualifies for return (or warranty/replacement) based on the appropriate criteria and at the time the product is actually presented for return. Such ER systems have greatly reduced improper and fraudulent returns and warranty claims.
While such ER systems have proven to be very useful in their current forms, additional improvements in the system are still desired to make such ER systems more flexible in operation in order to benefit customers, retailers, and manufacturers. For example, problems may arise in situations where frequent buyer award points systems and/or gift cards are provided. There are different variations of frequent buyer award points systems but, in general, such systems enable a customer to redeem points for monetary value, product offerings, or the like. In some respects, these frequent buyer award points systems are “cash equivalents,” in the sense that they can be used to “purchase” other products. Points may be purchased separately, “earned” by purchasing a product having a certain number of points, etc. Frequent buyer award programs often require participating customers to register (e.g., by providing personal information like name, address, telephone number, etc.) and to “activate” or “cash-in” their points by using an activation code (e.g., using a telephone dial-in system, the Internet, or the like).
Unfortunately, product insert cards (which may contain activation codes for the purpose of redeeming award points) present an added cost to the manufacturer, produce additional waste, are often lost before they can be redeemed, can be removed before purchase or obtained from products that are stolen or shoplifted, etc. To help thwart these and/or other potentially fraudulent activities, retailers secure products behind locked display cases, attach source tags, design bomb-proof packaging at great dismay to the consumer and the environment, and take other costly measures.
Thus, it will be appreciated that there is a need in the art for improved ER techniques that help facilitate frequent buyer award point programs.
One aspect of certain exemplary embodiments relates to electronic award points management techniques that authenticate item purchases, determine eligibility for inclusion in a manufacturer's or a retailer's award program, help identify and detect potential fraudulent transactions involving award points and/or associated products, etc.
Another aspect of certain exemplary embodiments relates to reducing (and sometimes even completely eliminating) the need for a wasteful insert card, e.g., containing reward points information. Certain exemplary embodiments may accomplish this by relying on a product's serial number, optionally together with instructions (which may be printed on the product packaging, in the product instruction manual, or elsewhere).
Another aspect of certain exemplary embodiments relates to activating cards when sold through an authorized retailer's point-of-sale (POS) system that is tied to a registration module of the ER system. For instance, a rewards system may remotely activate a card under the instruction of an ER system.
Still another aspect of certain exemplary embodiments relates to providing anti-fraud security measures for unregistered points cards.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, a method of detecting potentially fraudulent transactions is provided. An electronic registration (ER) system having an ER database of entries for sold items is provided, with each said entry including a unique identifier of a corresponding sold item, and with each said item having reward points associated therewith. The reward points are redeemable in connection with a rewards program administered at least in part by a rewards program system. When an item is presented for return or refund at a location, the ER system is used to: query the ER database to locate a matching entry, and determine whether the item presented for return or refund has been registered with the rewards program system and whether reward points associated with the item presented for return or refund have been credited to a member and/or redeemed by the member. When the item presented for return or refund has not been registered with the rewards program system and the reward points associated with the item presented for return or refund have not been credited to the member, a signal is sent to the location authorizing the return or refund subject to any return/refund policies of the location. When the item presented for return or refund has been registered with the rewards program system and the reward points associated with the item presented for return or refund have been credited to the member, a signal is sent to the location authorizing the return or refund subject to any return/refund policies of the location, and authorizing the debiting of a corresponding number of reward points from the member. Alternatively or in addition, when the item presented for return or refund has been registered with the rewards program system, the reward points associated with the item presented for return or refund have been credited to the member, and the reward points have been redeemed, a signal is sent to the location denying the return or refund.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, a method of detecting potentially fraudulent transactions is provided. An electronic registration (ER) system having an ER database of entries for sold items is provided, with each said entry including item information including at least a unique identifier of a corresponding sold item, and with each said item having reward points associated therewith. The reward points are redeemable in connection with a rewards program administered at least in part by a rewards program system. When an item is being registered with the rewards program system by a member of the rewards program, it is determined whether information for the item being registered exists in the ER database. When the ER database does not include information for the item being registered, the ER database is updated so as to include an entry for the item being registered and authorization is given to award reward points associated with the item to the member registering the item. The entry includes an anonymous member identifier. When the ER database includes information for the item being registered: item information entered by the member who previously registered the product and item information entered by the member attempting to register the product are examined to identify a suspected fraudster, and the anonymous member identifier of the suspected fraudster is sent to the rewards program system providing for potential follow-up by rewards program personnel.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, an electronic registration (ER) system is provided. An ER database includes a plurality of entries for sold items, with each said entry including a unique identifier of a corresponding sold item, and with each said item having reward points associated therewith. The reward points are redeemable in connection with a rewards program administered at least in part by a rewards program system. A processor is configured to execute instructions for querying the ER database. The processor also is configured to search the ER database when an item is presented for return or refund at a location to (a) locate a matching entry, and (b) determine whether the item presented for return or refund has been registered with the rewards program system and whether reward points associated with the item presented for return or refund have been credited to a member and/or redeemed by the member. The processor is further configured to generate and send a signal to the location authorizing the return or refund subject to any return/refund policies of the location when the item presented for return or refund has not been registered with the rewards program system and the reward points associated with the item presented for return or refund have not been credited to the member. The processor is further configured to generate and send a signal to the location authorizing the return or refund subject to any return/refund policies of the location when the item presented for return or refund has been registered with the rewards program system and the reward points associated with the item presented for return or refund have been credited to the member, and further authorize the debiting of a corresponding number of reward points from the member (e.g., by the rewards program system). The processor is further configured to generate and send a signal to the location denying the return or refund when the item presented for return or refund has been registered with the rewards program system, the reward points associated with the item presented for return or refund have been credited to the member, and the reward points have been redeemed. The item is one of either a rewards point card, or a physical product having an associated number of rewards points.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, an electronic registration (ER) system is provided. An ER database includes entries for sold items, with each said entry including item information including at least a unique identifier of a corresponding sold item, and with each said item having reward points associated therewith. The reward points are redeemable in connection with a rewards program administered at least in part by a rewards program system. A processor is configured to determine whether information for the item being registered exists in the ER database when an item is being registered with the rewards program system by a member of the rewards program. The ER database is updatable when the processor indicates that the ER database does not include information for the item being registered so as to include an entry for the item being registered and wherein the processor is configured to instruct the rewards program system to award reward points associated with the item to the member registering the item, with the entry including an anonymous member identifier. The processor is further configured to examine item information entered by the member who previously registered the product and item information entered by a member attempting to register the product to identify a suspected fraudster, and send the anonymous member identifier of the suspected fraudster to the rewards program system providing for potential follow-up by rewards program personnel. The item is one of either a rewards point card, or a physical product having an associated number of rewards points.
Certain exemplary embodiments may be configured to generate instructions or messages (e.g., via a processor) that are executable by systems to cause particular actions (e.g., to perform additional checks, flag items as suspect, flag members as fraudsters, etc.). Such instructions or messages may be communicated among and/or between systems using respective processors and/or network connections.
It will be appreciated that these aspects and embodiments may be combined in various combinations and sub-combinations to achieve yet further exemplary embodiments. Also, it will be appreciated that the exemplary embodiments herein may be implemented as any suitable combination of programmed logic circuitry including, for example, hardware, software, firmware, etc.